Locking mechanism.



J. W. STEPHENSON.

LOCKING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 25. 1914.

1,1%.,19., Patented 31, 1915.

2 S SHEET I.

' mm M W J. W. STEPHENSON.

LOCKING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 25. 1914.-

Patented 31, 1915.

2 s SHEET 2.

coLummA PLANOGRAIII C0,, (A5 NNNNNNNNNN c4 JOHN W. STEPHENSON, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, ASSIG-NOR '10 NATIONAL MALLEABLE CASTINGS COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO," A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

LOCKING- MECHANISM.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 311, 1915.

Application filed May 25, 1914. Serial No. 840,757.

a track fastener partly in section; Fig. .2 is

an elevation thereof; Fig. 3 is a section on lines III-III of Fig. 2; Fig. I is a detall showing an end view of the device, and Fig.

5 is a detail section of the locking member; and Fig. 6 illustrates various sections of the locking member on lines a, b, o, d, e, f and g of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a modification of my invention as applied to a rail anchor, which is shown in plan; Fig. 8 is an elevation thereof; Fig. 9 is a section on lines IX-IX of Fig. 8, and Fig. 10 is a detail of the locking member used in the rail anchor; and Fig. 11 illustrates various sections of the locking member on lines 0;, b and 0 of Fig. 10.

My invention relates to locking members for relatively movable parts and consists particularly in an improvement on the looking or key member described and claimed in my reissued Letters Patent No. 13,570, dated June 3, 1913. I have found, in practice, that where the bendable key is driven into the receiving slot, sometimes, by reason of the clearance necessarily permitted in such slot, variations in the size of the keys or in the size of the slots will permit the key tobe drawn back slightly after being driven to locking position so that looseness will occur between the wedge and the shoulder on the key, which may result in the device becoming ineffective.

My present invention consists in forming the slot in such manner that, regardless of variations in the sizes of the slots or in the key, the key will be locked in any position to which it is driven. To this end I prefer to form the slot with curved or inclined faces so that the metal of the key when driven will be distorted and twisted withrelation to its central axis and will thereby be held firmly and positively in any position to which it may be driven.

Referring to the drawings, in Figs. 1 to 6, I have shown my invention applied to a track fastener. A indicates the rail, B the fastener plate, G the wedge or rail brace and D the looking or key member. The slot 2 in the fastener plate is soar-ranged that as the key enters it, in addition to bending the entering end 3 and thereby looking it, it will also give it a twist, so that the key at any point in the slot will have a bearingagainst one side orthe other of the slot, and, as it is driven in, it will be bent or twisted in a number of different planes out of coincidence with each other, which will thus prevent the key from working back after it has been applied, regardless of normal variations in the sizes of keys .and in the sizes of the slots. The key D, before application, is of fiat form, and, when driven into locked position, assumes the shape shown in Fig. 5. The key D has the usual head 4 which bears against the rear face 5 of the wedge C, to hold the wedge in wedging position.

In Figs. 5 and 6 the manner in which the key is twisted is clearly shown, succeeding sections illustrating how the metal of the key in driven position is twisted with relation to its central axis.

In Figs. 7, 8, 9, 10and 11 I have shown my invention as applied to a track anchor comprised of the plate B. the wedge C and key D, in which the key D is adapted to be driven into the slot 2, so that the entering portion 8 of the key, beside being bent outwardly in the usual curved portion 6 of the slot, will be twisted on its own axis in the manner best shown in Figs. 7 9, 10 and 11.

It will be seen from the various embodiments of my invention which I have described above that the bendable keys, when driven in the slots, will immediately become locked and that there will be no slack which ivill permit the wedging members to become oose.

It will also be seen that various modifications may be made in the constructions which I have described and shown, without departing from my invention.

What I claim is:

1. The combination with relatively movable parts, of a locking device comprising a key member having a shoulder, and'a bendable portion, one of the movable parts having a channel adapted'to receive the bendable portion of said key, the cross sections of said channel being of substantially the same shape as the cross sections of the bendable portion of said key but successive parv 2 V R 1,152,129

allel cross sections of a portion of said channel having. an angular relation to each other whereby said key member when being driven istwistedabout a longitudinal axis into engagementwith opposite walls of the channel, and successive parallel cross. sections of another portion ofs'aid channel having a parallel relation to each other, whereby saidkey during withdrawal is untwisted about its longitudinal axis into substantially its initial 'unbent form.

2. The combination with relatively movable parts, of a locking device comprising a key member having a shoulder adapted to engage one part,- and a bendable portion, said bendable portion being of substantially uniform cross section throughout its length,

one of said movable parts having a channel formed therein, adapted to receive the bendable portion of said key, the cross sections of said channel being of substantially the same shape as the bendable portion of said key, a portion of said channel being straight in longitudinal section, and another portion of said channel being curved in longitudinal section and being twisted with respect to a transverse section thereof, whereby part of the bendable key when driven is held straight, and part is twisted about a longitudinal axis substantially parallel to the direction of drive whereby said key will resist withdrawal from said channel.

' JOHN W. STEPHENSON. Witnesses:

E. G. SOHUCHERT, C. W. ERKERT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Iatents,

' Washington, D. G. 

